How Do Antidepressants Work?
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Antidepressants affect neuronal growth
A particularly interesting study out of Germany provides insight into the action of antidepressants. The study, entitled Antidepressant Drugs Modulate Growth Factors in Cultured Cells, can be read here.
We have wondered for some time why there is a delay in the action of antidepressants, since their effect on serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake occurs within 24 hours. Earlier studies have shown effects of SSRIs on neurons in the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in memory and emotions– SSRIs increase the ‘volume’ if this structure in animals, and also affect the degree of branching of dendrites, the receiving-portion of neurons, in this part of the brain. During stress the dendrites in this region lose their complex branching pattern, and antidepressants restore the branching pattern, in essence having a neuroprotective affect during severe stress.
When taking the forces of evolution into account and wondering ‘why do we even have depression?’– why hasn’t it been eliminated by natural selection– one wonders if depression represents an adaptive response to stress where animals retreat, become less social, do less exploring, become ‘less trusting’ and more aggressive during times of environmental stress. Perhaps SSRIs function to block an adaptive response that was helpful for the survival of an ancestral species but which is counter-adaptive now.
The current article supports the idea that antidepressants affect neuronal growth and plasticity, and also suggests that non-medication treatments for depression work in similar ways.
Jeffrey T Junig MD PhD
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